Government steeled to lose 10 seats as prospect of snap election increases

Government sources say the probable loss of marginal seats is a hit they are willing to take if it means unlocking the Senate, which has infuriated the prime minister by blocking supply on a union governance bill.

The potential early poll would have to be called no later than May 11 and ballots must be cast sometime before July 16, Fairfax reports, with Liberal sources revealing that Mr Turnbull's thinking on the issue was "evolving".

The prime minister threatened to dissolve both houses earlier this month after the Senate rejected his plan to restart the Australian Building and Construction Commission for the second time – then, Mr Turnbull described a double dissolution as a "live option".

Now, there appears to be growing support within the party to call a snap poll, with the sun more or less well and truly set on his post-Abbott honeymoon, even if it means losing seats.

Meanwhile Labor has been slowly but surely closing the gap in the TPP, and now sits just four points behind the government.

Though Bill Shorten has Buckley's in the head-to-head popularity contest with Mr Turnbull, the opposition's scare campaign on a possible rise in the GST and its unveiling of its policy of negative gearing have been effective.